 |
| Titel |
Age of stratospheric air in the ERA-Interim |
| VerfasserIn |
M. Diallo, B. Legras, A. Chédin |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| ISSN |
1680-7316
|
| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ; 12, no. 24 ; Nr. 12, no. 24 (2012-12-21), S.12133-12154 |
| Datensatznummer |
250011683
|
| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/acp-12-12133-2012.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
The Brewer-Dobson mean circulation and its variability are investigated in
the ERA-Interim over the period 1989-2010 by using an off-line Lagrangian
transport model driven by analysed winds and heating rates.
At low and mid-latitudes, the mean age of air in the lower stratosphere is in
good agreement with ages derived from aircraft, high altitude balloon and
satellite observations of long-lived tracers. At high latitude and in the
upper stratosphere, we find, however that the ERA-Interim ages exhibit an old
bias, typically of one to two years.
The age spectrum exhibits a long tail except in the low tropical stratosphere
which is modulated by the annual cycle of the tropical upwelling. The
distribution of ages and its variability is consistent with the existence of
two separate branches, shallow and deep, of the Brewer-Dobson circulation.
Both branches are modulated by the tropical upwelling and the shallow branch
is also modulated by the subtropical barrier.
The variability of the mean age is analysed through a decomposition in terms
of annual cycle, QBO, ENSO and trend. The annual modulation is the dominating
signal in the lower stratosphere and is maximum at latitudes greater than
50° in both hemispheres with oldest ages at the end of the winter. The
phase of the annual modulation is also reversed between below and above
25 km. The maximum amplitude of the QBO modulation is of about 0.5 yr and
is mostly concentrated within the tropics between 25 and 35 km. It lags the
QBO wind at 30 \unit{hPa} by about 8 months. The ENSO signal is small and
limited to the lower northen stratosphere.
The age trend over the 1989–2010 period, according to this ERA-Interim
dataset, is significant and negative, of the order of −0.3 to
−0.5 yr dec−1, within the lower stratosphere in the Southern
Hemisphere and south of 40° N in the Northern Hemisphere below
25 km. The age trend is positive (of the order of 0.3 yr dec−1) in
the mid stratosphere but there is no region of consistent significance. This
suggests that the shallow and deep Brewer-Dobson circulations may evolve in
opposite directions.
Finally, we find that the long lasting influence of the Pinatubo eruption can
be seen on the age of air from June 1991 until the end of 1993 and can bias
the statistics encompassing this period. |
| |
|
| Teil von |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|